


Oh God, My Roommate's a Nerd

by loveydoveyecstasy



Series: Oh God, My Roommate's a Nerd [1]
Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: College AU, Eventual Charles/Erik, F/M, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-11-25
Updated: 2011-12-23
Packaged: 2017-10-26 12:48:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/283312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveydoveyecstasy/pseuds/loveydoveyecstasy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>College AU where Charles is Erik's nerdy roommate. Erik wants to hate him. Really, he does. But there's just something about Charles that he likes.</p><p>Author's note: This fic has officially been abandoned. I've honestly just lost interest in writing it, and I apologize to those of you who have enjoyed it. I greatly appreciate your feedback and the fact that you even took time to read this! But it's just not interesting to me anymore, and I felt it only fair to let you all know. I'll leave it up so you can read what is here if you want, but it will not be updated anymore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This has also been posted to my lj, and as I pointed out there, this is technically on a hiatus right now. I'm editing each of these chapters as I post, so it'll be a while before it's completed. But I just felt like you all should know that.
> 
> Also, Edie is alive in this, albeit an absent mother.  
> Italics represent thoughts, text messages, and written notes.
> 
> And, as usual, I don't own these characters, I'm just playing with them for a little bit.

The dorm room was small, smaller than he had expected even though he'd visited Logan and Scott's dorms numerous times and had seen what they were like. But here he stood, staring around at the small room, wondering how in the hell he was expected to live with some stranger here for an entire year. 

Shrugging, Erik dumped his final box of clothes onto the bed furthest from the door, claiming it as his own. He rubbed his arm across his forehead, wiping the sweat away. Whoever had thought that moving in on the hottest day of the summer was a good idea deserved to be shot. Erik's room just happened to be on the seventh floor, and hauling all of the boxes up the stairs had been a right pain in the ass, especially without help.

His father had helped haul the first few boxes up, then had dumped the rest into the back of his truck, clapped him on the shoulder and wished him luck with the semester, before rushing off to an "appointment." Erik knew he'd been racing off to yet another board meeting that he didn’t actually need to be at, and had rolled his eyes in annoyance and begun hauling box after box of his things up to his dorm room. 

Finally done bringing boxes in, he decided to go to the vending machine in the common area to get something to drink. He rummaged around in his pockets for a few dollar bills, listening to the sounds of families dropping their children off for the first time, mothers tearfully hugging their children good-bye while the mortified child patted them on the back and assured that they'd call home every weekend in an effort to get their mothers out of there. 

Erik was never happier to have a mother who was never around. 

Finally finding his change, he deposited it and punched the button for a bottle of Coke, collecting it and twisting open the cap as he headed back towards his room. He was counting on being alone for several more hours; after all, this Charles fellow he'd been paired with still had a good six hours to move in. Erik's dad had only agreed to help him move in early because of his appointment later in the day, which was just fine with Erik; the faster he got out of that house, the better. 

Taking a swig from his soda, he contemplated unpacking his things, which didn't appeal to him in the least. He thought he might go prowl the halls, looking for new girls, excited for their first taste of freedom, and looking to date someone who knew nothing about them. He was sure they were looking to hook up with someone who didn’t know their more embarrassing stories, such as the time they fell flat on their face in an attempt to give their best friend a lap dance. (Erik had laughed mercilessly at Angel when she’d stumbled in those six-inch heels she’d been so proud of and had toppled to the ground, pulling Jean down with her with a loud crashing noise.)

He was startled out of his thoughts as he stepped back into the tiny room, finding himself greeted by the sight of a small, dark haired boy with wide blue eyes humming to himself as he unpacked what appeared to be a spectacularly large collection of books. The boy was dressed in a pair of jeans, a white button up shirt that was properly buttoned and tucked in, and-oh God, are those suspenders?

There was no way in hell this was Erik's roommate. Erik, the local playboy who could drink anyone under the table, got by on his smile and charm and wit, able to charm the pants off of any adult he encountered, and who never did his homework but still passed his classes with flying colors, was not rooming with this...this incredibly geeky boy standing in front of him. 

"I'm rooming with a fucking nerd," he muttered to himself. The boy-Charles-glanced up at the sound of his voice, face splitting into a smile, his bright blue eyes warm and friendly. 

"Oh, hello! You must be Erik!" Erik watched in slight horror as he sat the book he was holding down neatly on the bed before scurrying forward, hand extended. 

"I'm Charles," he introduced himself, smiling brightly up at Erik. "It seems as though we're going to be roommates!"

"Uh...yeah." Erik shook his hand briefly, unable to believe that this was what he got paired with. 

He could just see the semester now: Charles going to bed by ten every night, up at six or seven, and _oh God, he's probably a morning person. Fuck my life._

"Are you from here, Erik?"

 _Dear God, he's making small talk._

"Yeah. Born and raised."

"Ahhh. I'm from three towns over."

Erik nodded, still trying to process the fact that he'd been paired with a nerd. A nerd who gave off Morning Person vibes and made small talk. 

He wondered if it was possible to switch rooms with someone this early on. 

"Nice." 

Charles cocked his head to the side a little, studying Erik for a few moments, lips pursed, before turning back to his books. 

"Have you declared your major yet?" 

"Uh, yeah. Sort of. Thinking about Engineering. You?"

Erik finally convinced his brain to function again, and stepped further into the room, heading for his bed, deciding to unpack at least one or two boxes before dashing off to find Scott and Logan. 

"Psychology. Although I've considered education as well." 

"Mmmm."

 _Grade A Nerd. Fuck. My. Life._

The two lapsed into silence, for which Erik was thankful for. He grabbed his phone before getting to work, tapping out a message to Scott and Logan as he finished off the Coke he'd bought. 

 _Roommate's no good. Need an exit strategy. Help?!_

Pocketing the phone, he tossed the bottle into the wastebasket in the corner, before finally opening the box on his bed and beginning to unpack. 

"Do you mind if I play some music?"

Erik glanced over to find that Charles had hooked up what appeared to be an iHome, and had it resting on the shelf above his bed. 

"Yeah, sure. Go for it."

Erik had the sinking feeling that he was going to regret that decision. 

Soft violin music floated through the room, Charles already humming along to it. Erik felt his eye twitching. 

His roommate was a nerd who gave off Morning Person vibes, made small talk, was a psychology major, and listened to classical music. 

Erik needed out now. 

He unfortunately had to wait another thirty minutes before either Logan or Scott responded. He almost cried in relief when he heard his phone beep at him. 

 _Roomate's a pothead. Guess what I'm doing tonight? Come over and meet him._

Erik rolled his eyes, envious of Scott's new roommate. 

 _Be there in a few. Parker, 271, right?_

 _Yup._

Pocketing the phone, Erik turned around to find Charles neatly folding his socks and setting them into piles. Color coordinated piles. Erik resisted the urge to gag. 

"Hey, uh, Charles."

Charles turned around, smile in place. 

"Yes?"

"I'm going out. Gonna go meet some friends. I don't know when I'll be back. Sometime later tonight, though."

Charles' face fell slightly, and Erik was surprised to find himself feeling a twinge of guilt. 

"All right. I'll...be here, I suppose." He paused, as if considering something, then glanced over at the boxes sitting on Erik's bed. 

"Would you...would you like any help unpacking?" he asked tentatively. Erik shrugged, surprised by the offer. 

"I don't care. You don't have to. I'll get to it eventually. But if you're bored, knock yourself out." 

"All right. Um. See you, I suppose." 

"Yeah." Erik gave him a half wave, grabbing his room key, truck keys, wallet and phone before darting out of the room, sighing with relief when he was unable to hear the violin music anymore.

"This is gonna be one hell of a year," he muttered to himself as he slipped past a mother sobbing into her son's shoulder. He gave the guy a sympathetic look before moving on, ready to put as much distance between himself and Charles as possible. 

                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How horrible is your roommate?" Scott asked by way of greeting when he saw it was Erik standing outside his dorm room. 

"I'm rooming with a fucking nerd," he replied, stepping into the room and flopping down on Scott's bed. He rubbed his face and groaned in frustration. 

"He can't be that bad," Scott protested. 

"Scott. He gives off Morning Person vibes. He's a psych major. And he tried to make small talk. And the kid fucking listens to classical music." The last two words were spoken as if they left a bad taste in his mouth.

Scott winced in sympathy, reaching over to pat Erik's ankle. 

"Sorry man. I'm sure he won't be too bad, though. He'll learn."

"My life is over, Scott. I've got a nerd for a roommate, and he's probably a giant cock block as well."

A quiet chuckle from across the room caught Erik's attention. He lifted his head, eyebrow raised, and found himself looking at a slouching redhead with freckles dotting his face and a mouth so wide it looked like he could fit three tennis balls in it. Erik would probably ask him to try it when they were drinking one night. 

"My last roommate was a nerd. They change over the year. Name's Sean, by the way." The redhead nodded at him before going back to something on his laptop, ignoring the two. 

"Erik," he said, turning his attention back to Scott, who was leaning against the wall, arms crossed and his eyebrow quirked. 

"See? It'll get better. You told Logan yet?"

"Yes. Asshole hasn't responded to my text."

"He's probably too busy harassing the freshmen girls on his floor. He'll get it eventually."

"Whatever. Ugh, Scott. Why did I get the shitty roommate?"

"You'll be fine." Scott patted his ankle again, shaking his head and smiling at Erik's misery. Some friend he was. 

"Can we get shit-faced tonight? I don't want to have to go back there just yet. He's also got these damn puppy dog eyes. I feel like I'm kicking a puppy when I'm rude to him."

Scott laughed at that. 

"Yeah, sure. Jean's having a party tonight anyhow."

Erik sighed in relief, never happier for Scott's relationship with the nerdy redhead. She was a year older than Scott, and had her own house close to campus, and was always willing to let the three crash there when they drank, which was quite often. Erik sometimes thought it would be a miracle if they didn't turn out to be alcoholics after graduation. 

"Fuck yes. Thank God. I could kiss your girlfriend right now."

"Do it, and I'll punch you in the dick," Scott replied coolly, digging into one of the boxes on the floor and pulling out an impressive-and disturbingly large-collection of scarves. 

"Dude. Do you really need that many scarves?" Erik teased, watching as Scott began to hang them up in the closet. He glanced over at Sean to find he was also watching Scott, lips twitching in a suppressed smile.  

"Shut up, Erik."

Erik chuckled. Scott was a closet hipster, and hated it when Erik and Logan ribbed him about it. 

"Ahhh, bastard finally responded!" Erik said, pulling his buzzing phone out of his pocket. He laughed when he read Logan's message. 

"What's he got to say?" Scott asked, voice muffled from somewhere in the depths of the shallow closet. 

"Ditch the roommie and come see me. Lots of fresh meat here. Only been hit in the face once! Get you ass down here so we can do shots." 

"Sounds about right," Scott muttered, emerging from the closet with his hair sticking up in the back. 

"Well, you heard the man. Let's go. I'll drive." 

Scott rolled his eyes and smoothed his hair down. 

"Erik, his dorm is less than a block away from here. There's no need to drive."

"It's hot as balls outside. I'm not walking in this."

"Yes you are. Let's go. Sean, you wanna join us? You're going to see a lot of Logan; might as well meet him now."

Sean shrugged again and shut his laptop. 

"Yeah, sure." He tucked the laptop away and grabbed his cell phone off of the desk, tucking it into his pocket and motioning for the other two to make their way out of the room. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

         When they got to the dorm, all three of them realized they had no idea which floor Logan’s room was on, or what room he was in. Scott was about to pull his phone out to call Logan, when they heard a loud, feminine shriek to their left.

Turning the corner, they found Logan grinning lasciviously at a petite, blonde girl, who was glaring at him. 

"Sorry, sweetheart. I couldn't help myself when I saw that perfect ass of yours."

Erik rolled his eyes and Scott cringed, while Sean looked on in fascination. 

"Fuck off, asswipe," the girl snarled, following the order up with a hard slap to his face. Logan pulled back, grin still in place, and watched as she walked away. 

"Call me sometime, sweet cheeks!" The blonde flipped him the bird, and Logan laughed, finally turning to catching sight of his friends. 

"Ay, Scott, Erik! And ginger kid I don't know!" Logan pulled Scott into a bear hug, then turned to Erik and gave him the same treatment, almost knocking the wind out of him. He paused when he reached Sean, sizing him up for a moment before shrugging and pulling him into a bear hug as well. Erik had to stifle a laugh at the look on Sean's face as he was squeezed within an inch of his life by the larger man. 

"Don't kill my roommate, Logan," Scott said dryly, rubbing his ribs absently. "I'd like to have someone to talk to this year aside from your ugly mug."

"Oh, go fuck yourself, Scott,” Logan laughed and released Sean, patting him on the back and almost knocking him to the ground in the process. Logan's bear like physicality had worked in his favor during football season in high school; now, it just made it dangerous to be on the receiving end of one of his hugs. He had arms large enough to crush a small watermelon on the first try. (Erik would know. He'd been the one to suggest trying that.)

"Now, who's this?" Logan studied Sean, who was massaging his ribs and giving Logan that same amused look he'd given Scott earlier, when he'd pulled out the scarves. 

"Sean Cassidy. I was told there'd be shots."

Logan's face split into a wide grin, and he clapped Sean on the shoulder again. 

"I like 'im! He can stay." Turning on his heel, Logan motioned for them to follow. Shrugging, Sean headed after him, quickly followed by Erik and Scott. 

Logan's room turned out to be on the second floor, and was a single. 

"No roommate? Lucky bastard," Erik grumbled, flopping down onto the lawn chair propped up in the corner. It was the comfy one Logan used for tailgating football games, complete with drink holders. Erik wasn't surprised in the least to find that the two holders were each occupied by a beer. Logan had a certain blatant disregard for the campus rules that Erik found incredibly amusing. 

"What'll it be, boys? I've got some Skyy, some SoCo, some of the good Captain, some Jack, and some Patrón."

Erik cringed at the mention of Patrón; the last time he'd drank tequila, he'd ended up waking up passed out in Jean's bathtub, wearing someone else's clothes and clutching a lawn flamingo like his life depended on it. His head had felt like it was going to explode for the entire rest of the day, and he'd sworn off tequila ever since then. 

"I'll take Jack," Erik said, standing back up and going to the shelf where he knew Logan kept his shot glasses. He took four down, smirking at the memory of the last time they'd used them. That had been a night to remember. Or not, depending on who you asked.

"Jack works for me too," Sean said, accepting a glass from Erik.

"I guess I can shoot Jack," Scott sighed, nose wrinkling in distaste. 

"Aww, is Jack too harsh for your hipster sensibilities?" Logan teased, pulling the bottle out of his mini-fridge and opening it. Scott scowled at him in response. 

"No. I'm just not too fond of it after throwing up ten times in one night because of it. Which was your doing, if I remember correctly."

"Hey, I didn't tell you to do twelve shots of the stuff."

"No, but you were more than happy to refill my glass whenever I ran out. Ass."

"Whatever. Take your shot."

Scott glared at Logan as he poured the shots. Logan remained unfazed, setting the bottle down on top of the fridge and raising his glass. The other three followed suit, raising their glasses high. 

"To a new semester! One we hopefully won't remember," Logan toasted, tilting his glass out a little. The other three laughed in agreement and clinked their glasses, before tilting them back and doing their shots. 

Erik winced at the burn as the liquid slid down the back of this throat, his eyes watering slightly. Sean seemed unbothered by the shot, and Logan was pouring himself a second one, and throwing it back as if it were water. Scott, on the other hand, was having a hard time holding his liquor down. 

"You gonna be okay man?" Erik asked, slightly concerned for Scott's health. He was choking and gagging, and looked like he might vomit at any moment. Pushing Logan aside (because he just found Scott's reaction hilarious), Erik rummaged around in the fridge until he found the slices of lime that he knew would be there, and the bottle of Coke tucked away behind the liquor. Pulling both out, he shoved them into Scott's hands. Scott quickly shoved the slice into his mouth and bit down, grimacing at the sour taste of the lime. He spit it out as soon as he'd sucked the juice out of it, and took a swig directly from the bottle of Coke. 

"I am never doing Jack again," Scott gasped, wiping his mouth off with the back of his hand. Logan laughed at him and did a third shot before putting the bottle away and setting his glass on the desk. 

"Lightweight," he teased.

"Fuck you," Scott snarled back. Erik rolled his eyes and glanced over at Sean, who was still holding his glass and smiling at the two like they were the most amusing things he'd ever seen. 

Tonight's party was going to be another night to remember.

                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Erik didn't return to his dorm room until late that night, stumbling in, shit-faced and barely able to stand up straight. He was startled to find the lights on, and Charles reclining on his bed, reading. 

 _Who the fuck reads for fun anymore? Why is he still awake? God he's a nerd. I'm hungry. Pizzaaaaa._

"Oh. Hello, Erik. Glad to see you're back," Charles said nervously, setting his book down and studying Erik. Grunting, Erik managed to make his way back to his bed (which was thankfully clear), and flopped down onto it on his back. He laid like that for a few seconds before rolling onto his side and squinting at Charles. 

"'M hungry," he announced, before rolling back onto his back and trying to kick his shoes off. When did basic motor skills become so difficult? 

"I'm...sorry?" Charles replied, unsure of how to react to Erik. 

"Do we have pizza? Pizza sounds awesome. I'm going to call a pizza." Erik's hand shot into his pocket, digging around for his phone. Finally finding it, he pulled it out, then squinted at the screen. 

"I can't read this," he said, holding it out to Charles. "You call."

Charles took the phone tentatively, unlocking the touch screen and opening the contacts. 

"Any particular place you want me to call?" 

"Lil' John's. Only place open this late."

"Right."

Erik watched as Charles dialed the number, and put the phone to his ear. 

 _Good kid_ , he thought, as he went back to trying to kick his shoes off. He made a noise halfway between a shout and a whoop when he got them both off, startling Charles, who had just hung up the phone. 

"I just got a cheese one. I hope that's all right?"

"Perfect. All pizza's good. Is good. Yeah. You're kind of a nerd, aren't you?"

Charles looked confused for a moment, before his face settled on a blank expression. 

"I suppose I am."

"Just don't be a morning person." 

"I'll...try."

"When's the pizza getting here?"

"They said fifteen minutes or so."

"Great. I'm gonna take a nap."

Rolling over onto his side, Erik curled up in a ball and closed his eyes. He was out in seconds, much to Charles' irritation. 

                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, Erik awoke to find a blanket draped over him, the blinds pulled shut, and a bottle of water, two aspirin, and a pizza box sitting on the desk beside him. Groaning, he sat up and rubbed his face, reaching out for the note resting on top of the box and staring at it blearily. 

 _Erik-_

 _Pizza got here shortly after you passed out. It has been in the fridge all night. Left it out for you for breakfast, along with water and aspirin. Gone for a tour of campus. Be back later._

 _-Charles_

Erik read the note two more times before taking the aspirin and swallowing it down with a few gulps of water, then tearing into the pizza.

Maybe his roommate wouldn't be so bad after all.

He was still a nerd, though. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erik's hungover and Charles meets Scott and Logan. Somehow, Erik guilt trips himself into inviting Charles to that night's party.

Erik’s morning consisted of polishing off the pizza Charles had left out for him and wondering if it was physically possible to detach his head from his body for a little while—long enough to stop his head from exploding, that is.

He was wallowing in a particularly deep pit of hangover agony when he heard the click of the lock being undone, and the door opened to reveal Charles. Charles, who was wearing slacks-slacks!-a polo that looked like it had been ironed recently, and those damn suspenders.

 _How in the hell can he stand dressing like that? Especially in this heat?_

"Oh, you're finally up!" Charles said brightly, setting a plastic bag down on his bed. Erik grunted in response.

"What's in the bag?" he asked, reaching for another slice of pizza.

"Oh, just some more things for class. Have you gone and found your classes?"

"Nah. I'll live."

"Ah."

Silence descended on them. Erik was thankful for the quiet. Charles, however, seemed uncomfortable with it. He pulled the items out of his bag-notebooks and a set of pens-and tucked them away in his desk drawer. Erik laid back down, throwing an arm over his eyes to block out the light of the room; the pounding in his head had subsided from jackhammer status to that of a tennis ball being lobbed at his brain repeatedly.

"So...do you have any plans for tonight?" Charles asked. Erik lifted the arm over his eyes and stared at Charles.

"Oh, no, um." Charles' face flushed a bright red.

"No, not like that. I just. Um. I figured since we're going to be rooming together, we might as well get to know each other? So it's not so...awkward?" he finished lamely. Erik continued to stare at him, weighing his options before responding.

"There's another party tonight. I was gonna go to it."

"Oh." Charles seemed to deflate, staring down at his shoes. "Okay. That's fine."

Erik felt a twinge of guilt and pity.

"You could come. My friends are, uh, really crude, though."

"I wouldn't want to impose..."

"Nah. Logan'll be happy to have someone new to terrorize."

Charles blanched at the words, but nodded.

"All right. I'll come. I can drive if you need me to."

"Cool. Now, I'm gonna go back to sleep until this hangover goes away."

"Okay. I'll, um. I'll just read."

As the room settled into silence again, Erik had a brief moment of wondering if rooming with Charles was really going to be that bad after all. Once Erik had tugged the blankets up over his head in an effort to block out the dim light of their room, Charles had stopped speaking and began reading, the only reminder that he was even in the room the quiet rustle of the page turning and the occasional noise of reaction to his book.

The quiet didn't last long, however.

Erik had just managed to fall into a light sleep when there was a pounding on the door. He didn’t budge from the safety of his blanket cocoon, preferring to allow Charles to answer the door.

"Hello!" he greeted whoever was at the door enthusiastically. "Can I help you?"

"You must be Erik's roommate."

Erik almost shot up in bed at the sound of Scott's voice. If he was here, then surely that would mean that-

"'Ey, would you look at that? Erik's got himself a little professor type for his roommate!"

Erik groaned loudly, rolling over and pushing the covers off of his head.

"Logan. Scott. What the fuck are you two doing here?"

"We came to pick you up for the party!"

"It's not until like eleven tonight, you dipshits."

"We're going to pregame."

Erik groaned again, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Logan, I have a hangover, and I fully intend to take this afternoon to sleep it off. I am not pregaming with you."

Logan rolled his eyes and brushed past Charles, who was standing awkwardly in the doorway, his attention going from his roommate to the bear of a man in his doorway, unsure of what to do. Scott seemed to notice and slid into the room, allowing Charles to shut the door and go over to sit on his bed, to better watch the argument unfold.

"Don't be such a pussy," Logan growled, crossing his arms and glaring at Erik. "Get your ass out of that bed and come drink with us!”

Erik looked over to Scott for help. He simply shrugged. Erik hated him a little bit at that moment, and even more so because he was still wearing his glasses inside.

"I've got nothing else to do. Sean's still passed out, and Jean's at work."

“Look, I’ll be there tonight, but only if you fuck off and let me sleep.”

Logan eyed Erik for several moments, looking as if he were going to argue with him some more.

"Fine. You bringing the little one?" he motioned to Charles, who looked like a deer caught in the headlights, eyes widening as he took in Logan's massive frame.

"Yeah. Now seriously, fuck off."

Grumbling, Erik settled back down and pulled the covers over his head. He relaxed when he heard the door open and the heavy footsteps that meant Logan had left. He immediately tensed back up when he heard Scott speak.

"I'm sorry about him. Logan's got horrible manners. We're still trying to house break him, even." There was a quiet chuckle from Charles' bed.

"No, you're fine. He--he just took me by surprise was all."

"Still. I apologize on his behalf. I'm Scott Summers, by the way."

"Charles Xavier."

 _Xavier? That's a hell of a name. Kind of badass, though._

"Cool. So you're coming tonight?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess so."

"Right. I'll see you there, then. Don't let Logan get a hold of you."

"I'll try."

"Sorry we bothered you, Erik. I tried to get him to call first, but you know how Logan is."

"Yeah yeah. Go deal with your boyfriend."

He could practically hear Scott rolling his eyes as he opened the door and let himself out. The room fell silent again.

"Those are your friends?"

"Yeah. Scott's girlfriend is hosting the party tonight."

"Ah."

"And I'm going back to sleep. So don't talk to me."

"O-okay."

Erik rolled back over onto his side, yanking the covers back over his head. The small rustling noise from the other side of the room told him Charles had gone back to reading. Sighing, he settled back down and prepared to sleep the agony away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Erik woke up for good around nine that night, sitting up with a groan and a wide yawn, rubbing at his eyes in an attempt to rid them of the sleep gunk that collected there. Why did eyes do that anyhow? Sleep gunk was stupid and should be banished.

"Hello."

Erik glanced to the side to see Charles still sitting on his bed, seemingly unmoved from when Erik had fallen back asleep. The only indication that he had even moved was that the book in his hands wasn’t the same one he had been reading when Erik had passed out. In fact, that book was sitting neatly on the desk beside his bed.

"Hey. You been sitting there the whole time?"

"Nah. I got something to eat too. You were really out. I honestly thought you were dead for a few minutes there."

"Scott always tells me I sleep like the dead when I'm hungover. Jean's threatened to call the ambulance more than once for me."

Charles chuckled, and Erik stretched again, swinging his legs over to stand up.

"We better head over to Jean's, though. Or else Logan will show up again, and he'll be drunk this time."

He had to stifle a laugh at the look of horror that crossed Charles’s face.

"Logan's, um. Logan's--is he for real?"

Erik laughed and popped his neck.

"Yeah, he's for real. We're not sure what gift or curse of nature has made him the way he is, but yeah. He's something else. Scott thinks he was raised by wolves."  
Charles laughed again, setting his book down and sliding off of the bed and into his shoes. Erik stopped, hand hovering over his phone, and took in Charles' outfit.

"You're not honestly going to this party dressed like that, are you?"

"What's wrong with my clothes?" Charles asked, brows furrowed in confusion. Erik groaned.

"Dude. You look like a fucking nerd. You're what, eighteen? Nineteen? And you're dressed like a forty year old professor. You've got to change."

Charles continued to look confused.

"I-I don't really know what you mean."

Erik rubbed at his face in frustration.

"Do you have anything more casual? I guess the polo works, but the slacks and suspenders have got to go. Logan will rip you a new one if he sees you wearing those at one of our parties."

"I have a pair of shorts, but they're for running."

"Sweats?"

"Yeah, in the closet."

"Good." Erik turned and began to rummage around in Charles' portion of the closet, as if he'd done it a thousand times before, and emerged with a pair of black basketball shorts and a navy t-shirt.

"See? Stuff like this works. You won't get your head stuck in a toilet or your eyebrows shaved off if you dress like this. Well." Erik paused, reconsidering his words. "You won't have those things happen right away if you're dressed like this."

Charles looked terrified, and Erik could read his second thoughts on this party all over his face.

"Just steer clear of Logan. He tends to find one person at each party to terrorize endlessly. And if you're dressed like that-" Erik motioned to the suspenders and slacks, "he'll for sure pick you out tonight. If you're lucky, Scott will be extra hipster, and Logan will be completely distracted by him."

"Well all right." Charles sighed and took the clothes from Erik, setting them neatly on the bed and toeing out of his shoes. He took the suspenders off, and untucked his shirt from his pants, before pausing and looking sheepishly at Erik.

"Erm. I'm not used to undressing in front of someone. Do you...?"

Erik's eyebrows shot upwards, an amused smile crossing his face as Charles' entire face turned a deep shade of pink.

"I hate to break it to you, dude, be we live in a dorm. You're going to have to get used to it. You’re also going to have to get used to male nudity if you’re going to come to any of our parties. Someone always ends up naked for one reason or another."

Charles nodded, his face flushing even darker. Erik almost laughed when he noticed that the flush had spread down to Charles' neck. Uncertainly, Charles pulled the polo shirt over his head, folding it neatly on the bed and slipping the t-shirt on. He quickly slid out of the pants, avoiding eye contact with Erik.

"You always blush this much?"

"No," Charles grunted, pulling the shorts up around his waist and tying the strings. He bent down to pull a pair of tennis shoes out from under the bed, and quickly pulled them on before straightening up.

"Am I acceptable now?" he asked uncertainly. Erik looked him up and down before nodding and grabbing his keys, wallet and phone off of the desk.

"Yeah, you're good. Let's go."

Charles grabbed his phone and wallet and trailed after him like a lost puppy.

Erik was beginning to have a bad feeling about inviting his new roommate to the party. But he couldn't stand how depressed he'd looked when Erik had mentioned going to it instead of spending time with him. It brought up too many memories of elementary school and being the only kid in first grade with red hair and too many teeth, a father who was never home and a mother who hadn't signed up for having kids and hardly paid Erik any mind. He didn't come into his own until middle school, when he suddenly had a growth spurt and towered over everyone in his class. That same year, he discovered athletics. And then he'd met Scott and Logan, and nobody had picked on or ignored him since.

As they climbed into his truck, Erik hazarded a glance over at his roommate. Charles was buckling himself in, a determined look on his face, as if he were going to enjoy himself tonight, regardless of what happened.

Yeah, Erik was definitely having second thoughts on inviting Charles to the party.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erik takes Charles to his first party. It goes worse than Erik had imagined it.

In the morning, Erik would regret bringing Charles to the party. Not, surprisingly, because of how much of a nerd he was and how much he would cramp Erik's style. No, he'd regret bringing Charles to the party because, as luck would have it, Charles turned out to be a lightweight, and ended up making a complete and utter ass out of himself that night.

The party started out simple enough.

Erik and Charles had walked in to shouts of greeting, and claps on the back for Erik, with a few grunted heys thrown Charles' way. For the most part, people didn't seem to care too much about Charles being there.

Erik had left Charles to his own devices less than five minutes into entering the house. He'd seen a girl he didn't know, and had made his way over, charm turned on and smile in place. Charles had wandered through the house until he'd ended up in the kitchen, where he spotted the sunglasses-wearing friend of Erik's.

"Um...Scott, right?" he asked, walking up to stand in front of the brunette. Scott pushed the sunglasses down his nose, looking at Charles over the thick frames. His eyes were a dark grey, which really wasn't what Charles had been expecting.

"Yeah. Charles, right?"

"Yes!" Charles replied, relaxing and leaning against the counter.

"You ever drank before, Charles?"

"Just a glass of wine here and there at home. Nothing, ah, like this, though."

Scott chuckled and pushed his sunglasses back up his nose before turning to rummage in the fridge. He pulled a long-necked bottle full of light brown liquid out and handed it to him.

"Here. Drink this. But not without a lime, otherwise you'll barf."

Charles studied the drink uncertainly. He’d heard stories about how nasty beer was, but had never tried it himself until now. Scott taking the bottle from him startled him out of his thoughts. Scott handed the bottle back, a wedge of lime stuck in the neck.

"Now you're good to go."

"Thanks." Charles stared at the drink for a few moments before finally shrugging and taking a gigantic swig from the bottle. It burned going down, and the taste of the beer nearly made him gag. The only saving grace was the bite of lime that followed it. Grunting, he wrinkled his nose and glared at the bottle. Scott chuckled at his expression.

"It takes a while to get used to. But if you're going to be hanging around us any amount of time, trust me, you'll need to. Now come on, I'm going to go introduce you to the important people."

Scott slung his arm around Charles' shoulders and led him out of the kitchen and into the living room, where the monster of a man--Logan--was chugging a beer bong, much to the delight of the crowd.

"You met Logan earlier. He's...well. He's something. Nobody can out drink him, and nobody dares to try. He'll shave your head in your sleep if you piss him off." Scott winced as he said it, causing Charles to glance up at him, incredibly worried.

"Speaking from personal experience?"

"Unfortunately. But let's move on before Logan spies you and tries to bench press you like he did the last new guy we brought around."

Scott steered them through the living room and into what appeared to be a study gone wrong. There were video games littered everywhere, and joints scattered over the desk. The bed was occupied by a freckle-faced redhead with a joint between his lips, and a slightly smaller, blonder, more muscular version of Scott. Charles hazarded a guess that they were brothers.

"Redhead over there is Sean. He's my roommate this year, and the guy to go to for all of your weed needs." Sean pulled the joint from his lips, blowing a wave of smoke in the face of the blonde sitting beside him.

"Hey," he greeted them slowly, holding out the joint. Scott shook his head, Charles quickly mimicking him. Sean shrugged and put the joint back between his lips, much to the irritation of the blonde.

"You ever going to share that thing?"

"You'll get your turn eventually."

Scott scowled at the blonde.

"Just take a shower before you go home in the morning, okay? I don't need Mom chewing my ass out about you and your smoking habit again."

"Whatever, dickwad." The blonde flipped him the bird, and Scott backed out of the room, taking Charles with him.

"That little brat is my younger brother, Alex. He's a senior in high school and thinks he's hot shit because Logan thinks he's funny and invites him to all these things."   
"You two don't, er, get along all that well, do you?"

"Nope." Scott led them to another bedroom, where a very pretty, slender redhead was sitting on the bed, a red Solo cup in one hand, riffling through a collection of old fashioned records.

"And this vision of beauty is none other than Jean Grey, my girlfriend, the owner of this house, and the host of this party."

The girl looked up, a slow, warm smile spreading across her face when she saw Scott. She slid off of the bed and made her way over to them, where she planted a kiss on Scott’s lips.

"Hey babe. Who's the little one?" she asked, glancing over at Charles. She leaned against the wall beside the doorframe, one arm crossed over her chest, taking a sip from her drink as she studied the smaller boy.

"This is Charles...Xavier, right?" Charles nodded.

"Yeah, Charles Xavier. Erik's new roommate."

Jean shook her head and gave him a sympathetic smile.

"I am so sorry," she said.

"For what?" he asked, confused. He took another drink of his beer, a nervous reaction.

"For having to room with that asshole. He's crazy. Always the leader in getting Scott here into trouble. Just watch yourself around him."

"He doesn't seem so bad to me."

"Give it a week. I promise, you'll end up begging to crash here all the time."

"If you say so."

Jean smiled, then turned back to Scott, clearly done with Charles. Unsure of what else to do, Charles quietly left the room, heading back down to the living room, where he'd last seen Erik. Maybe he'd try to talk him into dropping him back off at the dorm. Or maybe Charles could just walk back. He was starting to feel like an outsider here, and incredibly out of his element.

"Oy! Little guy!" Charles jumped at the sound of Logan's voice booming through the living room.

"Yeah, you! Little one that's rooming with Erik!" Charles swallowed the rest of his beer (which was starting to taste a little bit better, the more he drank of it), and turned around.

"Er...yes?"

"You ever done shots before? Or a beer bong?"

"No."

Charles had a sinking feeling about this, especially when he caught sight of the gleam in Logan's eyes.

"Then come with me."

Logan had crossed the room to grab Charles by the wrist, and dragged him into the kitchen, where people were beginning to gather. He pulled a bottle of something from the fridge--a clear bottle, with a clear liquid in it--and poured two shot glasses full of the stuff.

"You ever drank vodka before?"

"No."

"Oh man. This is gonna be great. Drink!"

Charles looked at him for a few seconds, bewildered, but scrambled to do his shot when he realized Logan had finished his already. He gaged as the liquid made its way down his throat, the alcohol burning and sitting unpleasantly in his stomach.

"And another!"

"How many are we going to do?" Charles asked nervously.

"As many as it takes," Logan replied with a wicked grin.

Five shots later, Charles was good and drunk, and stumbling around the living room. Logan was still in the kitchen, doing his second beer bong of the night. Charles was clutching a red Solo cup of something brown and sweet smelling that burned when it went down his throat, but made him feel warm all over.

"Erik!" he cried out when he spied his roommate leaning over a small brunette with a flirtatious smile on her face. Erik glanced up, mortified when he saw who it was.

"Charles, how drunk are you?"

"Erik, I can't feel my face," Charles slurred, frowning and reaching up to touch his cheeks, sloshing some of his drink down the front of his shirt.

"I can't feel my hands either!" he moaned, looking incredibly upset. Erik rolled his eyes and sighed, turning to apologize to the girl.

"My roommate," he murmured, kissing her on the top of the head and turning back to face his very drunk roommate.

"Charles, you're bright red."

"Am I?" he giggled, taking another sip of his drink. "I'm very hot. It's warm in here. Why is it so warm?"

"You're drunk. That's why you're hot."

"I'm drunk?" he gasped, touching his face again. "Erik, I can't feel my face."

"Yeah, you said that already. Here, give me your cup, you lightweight." Erik reached out to take the cup from Charles' hand, but was stopped by Charles himself, who jerked away and finished off the drink in one large gulp.

"All gone!" he giggled, waving the cup in Erik's face. Scowling, Erik took the cup from him and slipped it around his own drink.

"We're going to get you some water. Come on." Grabbing Charles' shoulder, he turned him around and began to push him towards the kitchen. Charles went along amicably, stumbling around and giggling the entire way, and squealing when he walked past someone he apparently recognized.

"You're, uh. You're Alex!" Charles shouted above the music, pointing at a tall, muscular blonde leaning against the wall.

"Yeah I am. And you're beyond drunk, man."

"I know!" Charles laughed, his eyes widening in delight as he wiggled free from Erik's grasp.

"How many drinks have you had?"

"Uhhh. Five?" Charles shrugged, gesturing vaguely to Erik. "He took my cup."

"What? Lame."

"I know!"

Erik rolled his eyes.

"Look, Alex, will you keep an eye on him while I go get him some water?"

"Yeah, I've got him."

Erik slipped into the kitchen, grabbing an empty cup off of the counter and heading for the sink. To his right, Logan was challenging some freshman to a chugging contest with him.

"Erik! Get yer ass over here and chug! Your roommates a lightweight, you know that?"

"How did I know you had to be involved?"

Logan just grinned and grabbed another beer, tossing it to Erik, who caught it smoothly. He set it back down on the counter and grabbed a cup from the cabinet, filling it up with water.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?”

“My roommate is shitfaced because of you, and I have to take care of his ass. So I’m getting him water. Keep the beer for yourself.”

“Pansy!” Logan called after his back. Erik flipped him the bird over his shoulder and continued into the living room, where a crowd had begun to gather, and music was blaring from the speakers.

Confused, he looked around the room until he spied Charles standing on a table, clutching a pink lawn flamingo and belting out the song at the top of his lungs, horribly off key.

"I've got my hands up, they're playing my song, I know I'm gonna be okay! It's a paaarrttttyyyy in the U.S.A.!"

"Charles!" Erik groaned, face heating up from a combination of alcohol and embarrassment.

"So I put my hands up, they're playing my song! The butterflies fly away! Uhhh....it's a party in the U.S.A.!" Charles shouted the last line, much the amusement of the crowd.

"Charles, get down!" Erik shouted. Charles whirled around, looking for the source of the voice. When he couldn't find him, he shrugged and continued to dance, the flamingo clutched to his chest.

“I love everyone in this bar!” Charles suddenly screamed, flinging his arms out wide. The crowd laughed and cheered, easily amused by this strange new kid dancing on the table.

"Charles!" Erik had made his way over to the table and grabbed the smaller boy's wrist, forcibly dragging him off of the table. Charles laughed, and the crowd booed at Erik for taking away their entertainment. Logan clapped him on the shoulder as he walked by, grinning toothily.

“Not bad, little guy,” he said, smirking at the very inebriated Charles.

“Thank you!” Charles chirped, leaning in and puckering his lips as if to kiss Logan. Erik realized what was happening a good thirty seconds too late, and had to watch in horror as Logan punched his roommate in the jaw.

“Logan!” Scott shouted from across the room, storming in just in time to catch him assaulting the now silent Charles. His sunglasses were knocked askew, and there were faint lipstick marks on his jaw and neck, much to Logan’s apparent amusement.

“Logan, what the fuck did I tell you about starting fights in Jean’s house?”

“Ain’t a fight if the little guy can’t even stand back up.”

“Fine. What did I tell you about punching people in this house?”

“Don’t let you catch me doing it?”

“Don’t fucking do it,” Scott snarled, setting his sunglasses back in place and bending to help Charles up. Charles was blinking a few times, and lightly touching his jaw, as if he didn’t believe that had just happened. The flamingo was still clutched tightly in his other hand.

“And what exactly are you going to do about it?” Logan growled, puffing his chest out and glaring at Scott. Erik chose that moment to grab Charles’ wrist and haul him out to the front porch, setting the cup of water on the railing and digging in his pockets for his keys. He really didn’t want to be around when that fight began. Things went from hilarious to horrible in no time whenever Scott and Logan got into it.

"We're going home," he growled. Charles was alternating between touching his jaw and petting the head of the flamingo.

"She needs a name!" he declared. Erik glanced over at the lawn ornament and scowled again.

"That's Lorna," he muttered, pulling his keys out of his pocket.

"She has a name already?"

"Yeah."

"Can we keep her?"

"Sure."

Erik headed for his truck, thinking Charles was behind him, until he actually decided to turn around and check. Charles was rushing back into the house, waving the flamingo over his head. It seemed he had already forgotten about being punched in the face.

"Alex!" Erik heard him shout. "Alex, her name is Lorna! Erik said I could keep her! Oh hello. You're quite groovy."

Erik groaned, chasing after his roommate.

"Who in the fuck says groovy?" he asked himself, grabbing Charles by the back of the shirt and pulling him away from the tall blonde he was attempting to chat up. Charles went willingly, Lorna still clutched tightly in his hands.

"Are we going home?" Charles asked, climbing into Erik's truck.

"Yes," Erik growled, sticking his keys in the ignition and starting the truck up.

"Oh good. I'm tired. That was fun. Do you guys party often? Did you see that girl I was talking to?"

"Shut up," Erik snarled, carefully backing out of the driveway and pulling onto the street. Charles gave him the puppy dog eyes for a few moments, before turning his attention to Lorna.

"Shhh, it's okay. He's just angry," Charles whispered to the flamingo, stroking her plastic head. Erik shook his head, continuing to drive home. He was pissed; here he'd gone out on a limb by inviting his nerdy roommate to a party, and he'd ended up acting like a complete and utter idiot.

The ride to the dorm was full of Charles chattering on about nothing and everything, mostly to Lorna, and Erik scowling at the road. Once there, Erik had to repeatedly hush Charles on their way up to their dorm. When they got inside the room, he kicked his shoes off and got a beer out of his mini fridge. He silently thanked Logan for stocking him up earlier that afternoon as he flopped down on his own bed.

Being back in the dorm seemed to trigger something in Charles, as he pulled his shoes off (taking much more time than was actually necessary to do so) and crawled into his bed. He was out almost instantly, clutching Lorna the lawn flamingo to his chest, and snoring loudly. Sighing, Erik finished off his beer before sliding his pants off and crawling under the covers to pass out himself.

In the morning, he'd regret bringing Charles even more than he was now.

However, the regret wouldn't come until later, as he woke up the next morning to find Charles curled around him, snoring softly and snuggled close in the tiny bed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erik wakes up with someone in his bed, and the school year starts.

The first thing Erik was aware of when he awoke the next morning was another body in his bed.

The second thing he was aware of was that said body was distinctly male.

"Argh! What the fuck?" he snarled, voice still rough with sleep and unwilling to open his eyes fully in the bright light of their dorm. The person curled around him made a soft grunting noise, his arm tightening around Erik's waist.

"Get offa me," he growled, elbowing the person behind him in the chest. When the body didn't budge, Erik elbowed him again, harder, this time sending him rolling off of the bed. A low groan from the floor caused him to roll over to see who exactly had decided Erik needed to be the little spoon.

He wasn't sure if he was angry or relieved that it was simply Charles who had been sharing his bed.

An extremely confused Charles, that is.

"Whazappening?" he mumbled, stretching out and slowly cracking his eyes open. He blinked, taking in his surroundings, before it registered just where he was and who was glaring at him from his position on the bed.

"Erik? Why am I on the floor?" Charles groaned as he tried to sit up. "And why does my jaw hurt so bad?"

"Why in the fuck were you in my bed? Spooning with me, no less!" Erik spat out the word 'spooning' like it left a bad taste in his mouth. Charles frowned in confusion before realization dawned on him.

"Erik, I am so very sorry," he apologized, touching the incredibly large bruise on his jaw. "I think I got up to use the bathroom at one point, and somehow stumbled into your bed, and Raven says I've always been a cuddler-"

"Who?"

"Raven. My little sister." Charles stood up, yawning and cracking his back in the process.

"Well whatever. That was fucking awkward as hell. Don't you ever do that again, or your ass is finding another roommate."

"I assure you, I won't be making that mistake twice."

"You're lucky I'm too hungover to do much more than be pissed," Erik growled, reaching over to grab the bottle of aspirin off of the table beside his bed.

"I'm surprised I'm not," Charles replied, making his way over to the small coffee maker sitting on his desk. Pulling the pot off of the burner, he glanced over at Erik, holding it up.

"I'm going to go make some coffee." Whistling to himself, Charles left the room to get water. Erik stared at where he'd been standing, attempting to process what Charles had said.

 _Not hungover? Not hungover? What kind of freak am I living with?_

Erik was still staring at the same spot when Charles returned. He was staring at him, almost as if he didn't believe him about the lack of hangover, when Charles turned back around and looked at him.

"Erik? Are you quite all right?"

Erik shook his head-which turned out to be a horrible mistake, as the room began to spin and his temples throbbed as if someone were playing the drums inside of them-and managed to grunt out a pained, "'M fine."

Charles looked as though he didn't quite believe him.

"Would you like some coffee?"

Erik would have very much liked some coffee. However, his stomach wasn't so sure it could handle it this morning.

"Sure," is what his mouth ended up saying.

"Cream? Sugar? Anything?"

"Black," he muttered, settling back against the wall beside his bed, closing his eyes and rubbing his temples in an attempt to make the throbbing stop. He only reopened his eyes when Charles cleared his throat awkwardly. He was standing in front of Erik's bed, holding two cups of coffee. One was held out in an offer to Erik.

"Thanks," he mumbled, taking the mug and drinking from it gratefully. It burned his tongue and scalded going down his throat, but he could already feel the caffeine working its way through his system.

Charles was standing nervously in front of him, as if he wanted to say something. Erik raised one eyebrow, watching as Charles took a sip of his coffee.

"Er...I think I'm going to go for a run."

Erik blinked, thrown off guard. Charles had looked like he wanted to talk about something more serious.

"Okay."

Charles didn't move, however. He stood where he was, finishing off his coffee and fidgeting with his mug, clearly on the edge of saying something he wasn't sure Erik would like.

Erik was about to snap at him to just spit it out when a knock on the door startled both of them. Charles hurried over to the door, setting his mug down on the desk as he went, while Erik remained in bed, watching his roommate. Charles’s face lit up when he saw whoever it was at their door, and he broke out into a wide smile.

"Raven!" he crowed happily, hugging the girl standing in their doorway. "What on earth are you doing here?"

Charles stepped back and let her in, shutting the door behind her and grinning happily.

"What happened to your face?" she asked, pointing to the rather impressive bruise on Charles' jaw.

"Oh...had a bit of an accident. Don't worry about it." Charles smiled at her, subject clearly closed. She studied him for several long moments before turning around and looking Erik up and down.

"You must be the roommate."

"No shit," Erik growled, already irritated by the blonde with the too loud voice. He was suddenly wishing he'd sprung for a single dorm, so that he could sleep off his hangover in peace. He was doubly regretting having a roommate at this moment, as Charles was puttering around the room, putting things back up and acting as if he were completely unaffected by last night’s activities. He looked up sharply at Erik's words, however, scowling at his roommate. It was the first time Erik had seen him be anything but polite or nervous.

"I see they put you with a real charmer, Charles," she said, hardly bothered by Erik's rude behavior.

"Er, well, you see, he's not normally this rude. Or he hasn't been. Really, Erik, was that necessary?"

Erik glared at Charles, who simply returned it with a stern stare before going back to straightening his side of the room up.

"Sorry. Not feeling real well."

"You're hungover, aren't you?" Raven asked, eyebrow raised.

"Sure am."

"Man. Sucks for you."

"Raven!" Charles admonished, looking up at his sister sharply.

"Hey, he was rude first." Erik raised an eyebrow at her, unsure of if he liked this girl or not.

"Is there a reason you came to visit?" Charles asked, coming up to prod his sister in the back. She turned to him and smiled, hands resting on her hips.

"Actually, yes. I needed out of the house, and I thought you could show me around campus. Or something. Really, I just wanted to get away from Sharon and Dad."

"I'd love to." He smiled warmly at her, and Erik wanted to roll his eyes at the incredible fondness in his roommate's voice.

"Great. Then let's go." Raven allowed him to put his shoes on before dragging him out, ignoring his protests of needing a shower or changing clothes.

Erik sighed when they were gone, grateful for the peace. Slowly, he crawled out of bed and made his way over to the three tiered tub where he'd seen Charles store his cereal. He grabbed a box-Cinnamon Toast Crunch, his latest favorite-and made his way back to his bed, sitting down on top of the covers and leaning against the wall. He began to eat straight from the box, relishing the fact that the only sounds were those of the cereal crunching in his mouth, and the wax paper in the box rustling when he reached in for another handful.

When he was satisfied his head wasn't going to explode and that his stomach wasn't going to revolt on him, he set the box down and stretched out, preparing to go back to sleep.

As he crawled under the covers, he spied something pink in the corner by Charles' bed.

"Lorna, you're a traitorous bitch," he growled at the flamingo. It simply stared at him, motionless and blank-faced. Erik could have sworn she was mocking him.   
"See if I ever dance with you again," he muttered, rolling over onto his side and tugging the covers up to his chin.

He slept for the rest of the day, and awoke in time to go to yet another party at Jean's, this time devoid of Charles and his penchant for singing on tables. Lorna also remained in their dorm, something he drunkenly lamented to Sean that night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the week went by in a blur, full of parties and alcohol and nights Erik doesn't quite remember all of, and Charles taking care of him. After the first night, the tension between them eased a little, and Erik found it wasn't too bad having a roommate who was willing to be your DD and leave out aspirin, coffee, and cereal after a night of partying.

The first day of classes crept up on them without warning, much to Erik's chagrin.

"When's your first class tomorrow?" Charles asked as he laid out his batch of school supplies and books. He'd already arranged and rearranged them several times, while Erik had simply thrown a notebook and pen into his backpack and called it good.

"Uh...shit, I should probably find out." Grunting, Erik dug his schedule out of his backpack, and studied it intently.

"Fuuuuccckkkk my life," he groaned, slumping back against the wall.

"What is it?" Charles asked, brows furrowing in concern.

"My first class is at nine a.m. Why in the fuck did I sign up for that?"

"It can't be that bad. It's only nine."

Erik eyed Charles incredulously. He still couldn't get over the fact that he'd been put with a Morning Person.

"Charles, I don't do morning classes. God, this is going to blow."

Charles smiled at him. Erik flipped him off.

"You'll live," Charles replied, carefully tucking a pen, pencil, and highlighter into a black pencil case. He set it down neatly on top of his five subject notebook, and glanced over at his books. Erik watched him, amused by his nervousness.

"Charles, it's the first day. They're just going to go over your syllabus and take attendance or some shit. You don't need your books."

"Yes, but what if one of them wants us to read on the first day? I had a class like that in high school. I just don't want to come unprepared."

"You'll live," Erik said, smirking when Charles raised one eyebrow at him.

"Fine. But if my professor asks about our books tomorrow, I'm blaming you."

"Whatever you say."

"Anyway, my first class is at nine as well. I'll be up, so I can make sure you're awake."

"Thanks," Erik sighed, leaning back in his bed and lacing his fingers together behind his head.

"Right. Well, I'm going to bed. See you in the morning."

"Night, then." Erik stared up at the ceiling for several long minutes as he listened to Charles climbing into bed and his breathing quickly evening out. That was one thing he'd noticed about Charles that always amused him; he was quick to fall asleep once he was in bed. And he slept like the dead, much like Erik. He was pretty sure that if their dorm ever caught on fire, they'd die because neither one would wake up to hear the smoke alarms or the fire engine sirens.

No matter how much he bitched and moaned about his first class being so early, Erik had to admit that he was kind of excited. High school had been a breeze for him, but he was ready to start over new. He was pretty pumped about getting to go to classes where everyone didn't know him and his entire life story.

It was another three hours before Erik found he was able to fall asleep.

It was another seven after that that he felt someone shaking him awake and saying his name.

"Erik. Erik, come on. It's eight already. Get up."

Erik groaned and swatted at the hand on his shoulder, rolling over and ignoring the sigh behind him.

"Erik, if you don't get out of bed, I'm going to drag you out myself."

"Sure," Erik grumbled, snuggling deeper under the covers.

He was surprised to find Charles following through, as he felt the covers ripped off of him and two hands grabbing his arm and hauling him out of bed. He landed on the floor with a loud crash, a slew of profanities escaping him as his ass connected with the cold tile of the floor.

"Was that necessary, asshole?" he growled, slowly standing up, and rubbing his backside. Charles looked a bit sheepish.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want you to be late. Shower's practically empty if you want one, and there's coffee in the pot. I'm going to go to class a little early, get a good seat-"

"Charles, you'll be there an hour early."

Charles blushed.

"I know. I'm going to go grab a bite to eat then, and then go to class. So...I guess I'll see you around?'

"Yeah. Thanks for the wake up call."

"No problem." Charles smiled at him one last time before grabbing his backpack and heading out the door, looking like a complete and utter nerd. Or maybe a miniature professor. Erik wasn't quite sure which one he wanted to settle on.

Sighing, he went about getting ready, wondering all the while why exactly he had chosen to sign up for such an early class. He hadn't seen this side of daylight in months.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

His first class turned out to be biology. Erik wandered into the large room, glancing around at the empty seats and fellow freshmen slumped over in their chairs. Most looked like death warmed over, while some were sitting up, alert, and bright eyed, eager to begin learning.

Erik avoided those people like the plague.

He wandered along the rows, looking for a good place to sit. He was about to settle on a seat on the left side of the room when he spotted Charles, sitting in the third row from the front, with three seats open on either side of him.

"Charles!" Erik hissed as he made his way over, sliding into the seat on his left. "Why didn't you tell me you had this class?"

"Erik!" Charles grinned happily, seemingly delighted that his roommate was in the same class as him. "I'm not sure. Didn't come up."

"Well, whatever. At least I don't have to suffer alone now."

"Shhh, class is starting!"

Erik rolled his eyes, but shut up nonetheless, pulling out his notebook and a pen to start taking notes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the day went by fast enough; Erik's classes didn't last more than twenty to thirty minutes, and he met up with Scott, Logan, and Sean later on for lunch. When he got back to the dorm, Charles had on a pair of thick black glasses, his nose buried in a book. He shook his head, amused by his roommate. However, he chose to leave Charles alone, flopping down onto his own bed and pulling his laptop out and onto his lap.

The rest of the semester passed in a similar fashion; if Erik wasn't in class (and he went to every single class, no matter what he tried to tell anyone), he was either with Logan, Scott, and Sean, or hanging out in his dorm with Charles, enjoying the quiet. The weekends were when he partied the hardest, while the rest of the week he spent his nights getting a pleasant buzz or a mild high from Sean's stash.

It's when midterms rolled around that something in their relationship changed. Charles was on the edge of a nervous breakdown, and Erik was growing increasingly frustrated with his inability to fully comprehend the practice test they'd been given for biology.

"Man, fuck this," he sighed in frustration, tossing the packet across his bed. Charles was sitting next to him, and eyed him cautiously over his glasses.

"Erik, please. You've got to study, or else you're going to fail."

"Charles, I don't care. I don't understand this shit. This has nothing to do with anything we discussed in class or lab. Just. Fuck this."

Charles gave a long suffering sigh, and reached over him to pick up the packet, flipping to the first question.

"Okay, see, this one about the regulation of temperatures means-" and he was off, in what Erik secretly thought of as his Professor Mode, lecturing Erik and explaining the answer to the question in terms far better than their professor ever could.

Charles walked Erik through the first half of the test before handing it back over and going back over his own notes and reviewing for his upcoming midterms. They studied together in silence for what felt like hours before Erik decided to glance up at the alarm clock resting on the desk across the room. Just as he lifted his head, he felt something press against his shoulder. He glanced down, and raised an eyebrow at the sight before him.

Charles had fallen asleep, and was slumped against Erik's shoulder. His glasses had slipped down the edge of his nose, and the papers he'd been holding had fallen into his lap. Moving carefully, so as not to dislodge him, Erik slid the glasses off and placed them on the desk beside his bed, along with the papers and books. Yawning, he reached over to turn off the lamp, before settling back against the wall and pulling Charles with him.

He's not quite sure what made him do it. They still didn't really know each other all that well, and Charles was still obnoxiously nerdy. And Erik was pretty sure he wasn't into the man on man cuddling.

But for some reason that night, he didn't think too much about it, and rested his head against the wall behind them before dozing off.

The next morning they both awoke with stiff necks and limbs, and disentangled awkwardly, Charles' face a brilliant shade of red, while Erik pretended nothing had happened.

But after that night, Erik found Charles falling asleep on him, patting his shoulder, resting a hand on his back, and overall touching him more often than before. And Erik, who hadn't realized he was so touch starved, leaned into each touch, and felt strangely empty when Charles' presence was gone.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's finals week, and Erik finds he's going to be alone for Hanukkah.

He's driving home from Sean's, having stormed out on a smoking session, when he thinks about Charles. Which should be weird, thinking about Charles so much, but somehow it's not. The two have gotten closer over the semester, especially after that night when Charles fell asleep on him while studying. Since then, he's gotten more and more affectionate with Erik.

The thing about The Touching (as Erik likes to secretly call it) is that it never happens in public. It's always in the privacy of their dorm room that Charles will settle himself down next to Erik on the bed, and press as close as he can without sitting on his lap. It's in their dorm that he'll absently stroke Erik's hair as he walks by, or rest his hand on his shoulder while looking at his homework or whatever stupid video it is he's pulled up on youtube now. 

Charles hardly touches him out in public. In class he might lean a little closer than normal, and at parties where he's the driver, he'll awkwardly hold Erik up and pat him on the back when he's too drunk to stand. But beyond that, he doesn't show nearly the amount of affection towards his roommate as he does in their dorm. 

Erik thinks it's a little weird, but doesn't say anything. He doesn't want to ruin a good thing. 

He never mentions it to any of his other friends, although they seem to pick up on it anyway. Sean in particular notices it, and brings it up while sitting in the spare bedroom at Jean's, joint passing from person to person. 

Erik was wondering why exactly he did this; the weed seemed to have the exact opposite effect on him as it did his friends. Sean became boneless and mellow, relaxing against whatever surface he was reclining against, and couldn’t seem to be ruffled by anything. Once in a while, he'd get an idea about something (like the time he suggested they try to see if Jean's cat could walk on the ceiling, and then fly), and then he’d come alive, motioning wildly and plotting. Scott became the happiest person alive, and found it impossible to stop smiling. It was incredibly unnerving.

Logan, if at all possible, became even more batshit insane than usual. 

Erik, on the other hand, became tense, and prone to ranting. Which is why he doesn't often join in on the actual smoking; most of the time, he’d just sit around and laugh at his friends, chatting with Sean, and avoiding eye contact with Scott at all costs. 

So, naturally, Sean would choose the one time Erik actually joined in to bring up his roommate. 

"Your roommate's the touchy type, ain't he?" he asked, reaching out for the joint as Erik exhaled the smoke. 

Erik felt his shoulders tense, and immediately regretted smoking. 

"Kinda."

"Fits with that nerdy personality. Bet he's never had a girlfriend."

Erik scowled at the redhead, not liking the direction that the conversation was going. Sean didn't know Charles as well as Erik did, and hadn't, in fact, held an actual conversation with him. For him to pick on Charles like he was pushed each and every one of Erik's buttons.

"He's not that bad."

"Yeah?" Sean grinned lazily at him, and Erik was suddenly struck with the desire to leave. The grin Sean was sporting said he was about to make a comment Erik wasn't going to like, and it was going to be about Charles. And Erik really, really didn't want to be around for it.

"Yeah. He's all right once you get to know him."

"Aww, you two cuddle buddies or somethin'?" Sean asked, stupid grin still in place.

The condescending tone in Sean's voice is what was the final straw for Erik. He knew that if he stuck around, Sean would continue to tease him and mock Charles, and Erik honestly didn't feel like getting into a fight with the redhead. 

The thought of Sean continuing to pick on his roommate made Erik's blood boil. It was this thought that caused him to stand up, fists clenched at his sides.

"I'm going," he growled, grabbing his keys off of the desk and heading out the door. None of the others followed him, knowing it was best to leave Erik to his own devices when he was pissed.

He brooded the entire drive back to the dorm. Charles had been coming around more and more often with him, and the two were quickly on their way to becoming best friends, a concept Erik hadn't really thought about. Sure, he had Scott, Logan, and now Sean, but none of them seemed to fit into his life quite as perfectly as Charles did. Something about his nerdy little roommate just seemed to click with Erik. 

Once he found a parking spot-at the very back of the parking lot, and wasn't that just a bitch?-Erik all but sprinted for the doors. Winter was beginning to creep into the air, and the nights were colder than usual. 

That, and Erik had forgotten to grab his hoodie when he'd stormed out of Jean's house. 

The wind bit at his face as he ran, cutting straight through his thin t-shirt and jeans, and down to the bone. His nose had begun running, and his breath came out as thick, white clouds in front of him. He could feel his fingers beginning to lose feeling, as well as his toes, and cursed the fact that he chose to wear his worn out converse that day. It had rained unexpectedly while he was at Jean's, and his shoes were soaked with water by the time he reached the front door.

He shivered all the way up to his room, his irritation at Sean the only thing distracting him from just how cold he was.

Finally, he reached his room and burst through the door without warning and slammed the door behind himself.

Charles, of course, was already there, sitting on his bed. He looked up in alarm when Erik slammed the door, his glasses having slid halfway down his nose, hair looking as though he'd been running his fingers through it repeatedly. 

"Erik!" he said, immediately shutting his book and sliding off of the bed, striding over to his roommate. Erik had frozen when he'd walked in, and stood in front of the door, shivering, his arms crossed over his chest and his hands tucked into his armpits. 

"Erik, what are you doing? Why in the hell were you outside in the cold without a coat?" 

Erik smiled fondly at the swear, amused to see his influence on Charles so clearly. The first few months of their rooming together, Charles had always given Erik and his friends disapproving looks when they swore. Now, Charles could swear with the best of them, although he didn’t often like to.

"Don't worry about it," he mumbled. 

"Well at least put something warm on. Here," Erik glanced up in surprise when a blanket was slung around his shoulders, Charles on tiptoe to wrap the old quilt Raven had brought him on her last visit around Erik's broad shoulders. He smoothed his hands over the fabric once it was settled, and smiled up at Erik. 

"There. Better?" 

"Yeah. Thanks." Erik clutched the blanket tightly around him, watching as Charles made his way back to his bed and climbed up on it, resuming his studying. 

"You've been with Sean and Scott, I take it?" Charles asked without looking up from his notes. Now that he was in their dorm, he was acutely aware of just how horrible he smelled. 

"Yeah," he grunted in reply, moving to climb onto Charles' bed and lean against the wall. 

"Did you leave early?"

"Mhm." Charles glanced up at that, brow furrowing as he studied Erik. 

"Did something happen?"

Later, Erik would blame the weed for his ranting. But deep down, he knew he'd been dying to blurt this out for ages. 

"Sean was giving me shit about you being a nerd, and talking about you like you were this pathetic _thing_. And it pissed me off. You’re not any of those things he was saying. You’re actually pretty cool. I mean, yeah, I thought I was going to hate you at first—you were wearing suspenders when I first met you, for God’s sake—but you’re pretty cool, and they don’t know that, and it just pissed me off. So I left."

Charles blinked a few times, his eyes widening and his mouth opening in a nearly perfect 'o' at the sudden outburst, before a blush began to creep its way into his cheeks and neck. 

"Well, er...thank you for defending my honor, Erik. I—I appreciate it." Erik nodded absently, reaching out to pat Charles on the shoulder before letting his head fall back onto the wall and sighing softly. Charles fell silent, and Erik closed his eyes, content with the quiet, the tension slowly ebbing from his body. 

Thing was, Erik meant every word of it. He really did think Charles was all right. He needed to loosen up some more, but beyond that, his roommate was pretty cool. In fact, Erik found himself enjoying spending more time with Charles than with Logan, Scott, or Sean. 

He was so lost in thought, he hadn't noticed that Charles had put his books and notes away, until he was suddenly tugging on the edge of the blanket, his cheeks still flushed pink as he looked anywhere but at Erik. 

"Let me in there," he muttered, staring fixedly at a point on the floor. Erik obliged, lifting the blanket and watching as Charles slid underneath and pressed against Erik's side, settling against him with a small sigh. Erik curled his arm around Charles' shoulders, letting the blanket drape over him, and nudged his shoulders until he rested his head on Erik's shoulder. 

Neither one was sure how long they sat together like that, cuddling but not quite, only that it was long enough for Erik to doze off, and Charles to snuggle in closer, his nose brushing against Erik's neck. 

The next morning, they slowly disentangled themselves, and neither one said a word about it. 

                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The month leading up to winter break and finals found Charles and Erik partying more often, and sleeping less and less. It quickly became a routine, for them to go over to Jean’s and drink with Logan, Scott, and Sean, and then come back to the dorm and drunkenly look over their notes, before passing out for four hours and going to class the next day. Charles was surviving on coffee and Red Bull alone, it seemed, until finally, two weeks before finals, he crashed so hard he slept for an entire day, and moaned all the next about the classes he’d missed. After that, he partied less, and attempted to sleep more. 

Erik, on the other hand, compensated by skipping classes and studying in the hours that he wasn't drinking or asleep. 

It was during the week that Charles crashed that Erik got a phone call from his mother. He was studying in the common area of their dorm, sprawled out in one of the armchairs tucked into the corner, books and notes spread out on the tables in front of him, long since forgotten. He'd become so engrossed in the first person shooter game he'd found online that when his phone went off, he almost dropped his laptop. 

"What the hell?" he asked, glancing at the screen to find his mother was calling. Taking a deep breath, he pressed the answer button. 

"Hello?"

"Oh, Erik, hello dear, how are you?"

"Fine." Erik knew his mother would get to the point of her phone call faster if he didn't speak much. 

"Good, good. Listen, I was just calling to tell you that your father and I are going to be going on a cruise in the next two weeks! We'll be gone until January second so-"

Erik pulled the phone away from his ear, staring at it in disbelief. He could faintly hear his mother still chatting away, so he pressed the device to his ear again. 

"-I suppose you can just stay in your dorm, since we'll be gone, and-"

"You're leaving me alone for fucking Hanukkah?" 

Erik's mother continued on as if she hadn't heard his little outburst. 

"I'm sure you and your roommate could celebrate together!"

"Mom, Charles' family is Christian. They celebrate Christmas."

"Oh. Well, I'm sure you'll figure something out. Anyhow, I have to go, your father's taking me out to buy a new bikini!" 

The line went dead leaving Erik to stare at his phone in shock. This wasn't the first time he'd been left behind on holidays; his parents were notorious for running off to various exotic islands when the weather turned bad. This was, however, the first year that Erik would be spending Hanukkah alone. He'd always at least had his grandmother to celebrate with, until she'd passed away when he was fourteen. And even after that, his aunt had taken him in, and they’d celebrated together.

Growling in frustration, Erik shut his laptop and pocketed his phone before standing up to collect the rest of his things. He was going to go get shitfacted with Logan and Scott tonight. 

          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He never told Charles about the phone call.

This was largely because Charles was passed out for the entire day after he got said call, but also because he knew Charles would turn those sad eyes on him, and try to fix the situation.

Erik really didn't need to deal with Charles' pity on top of the stress of finals. 

It wasn't until after his last final on the Friday of finals week that Charles said something. He was packing his bags to head home, and kept glancing over at Erik, who was lounging on his bed and watching the stupidly hilarious _Jersey Shore_. Charles would tilt his head to the side and furrow his brow, but never say anything. 

It wasn't until after he'd finished loading his bags into his car and had come back to retrieve his phone and the iPod cord laying on his desk that he finally said something. 

"Are you not going home, Erik?"

"Charles, I live in this town. I'm already home. And no, I'm not. My parents are on some cruise or something, so I'm stuck here."

"Oh." Charles' face fell, and Erik sighed, muting the television. Somehow, he didn't think that fist pumping and the mantra of gym, tan, laundry, was appropriate background noise for this conversation. 

"It's not the first time this has happened. It's just the first time I don't have someone to stay with, but I have my own place, so it's cool."

"But...are you going to have anyone to celebrate Christmas with?"

"I don't celebrate Christmas."

"Why not?"

"I'm Jewish. Have I not told you this before?"

"No, I didn't realize! So...nobody to celebrate Hanukkah with, then?"

"Nah. It's cool, though. I'll live."

Charles looked horribly upset at the prospect of leaving Erik alone at the dorm.

"Well, you, ah, you could always come to my parents' place."

"Wouldn't your parents have something to say about that?"

Erik was surprised to see something dark flash across Charles' face, before his features smoothed themselves out into their normal state.

"My parents would be delighted to have you over. I'm sure they'd be more than happy to meet the roommate I've been talking about all year."

"Oh. Well. I'll, ah. I'll think about it."

"All right."

"You should get going. Roads are going to be crazy."

"I suppose. But truly, think about it. You have my number. Call me, and I'll give you directions if you want to come out."

"All right. Bye. Drive safe."

"Yeah, you too. Er, I mean. Bye to you too. Not drive safe. Although you should if you're going anywhere--okay I'm leaving now." Erik shook his head, amused, as Charles hurried out the door, cheeks flushed a dark red.

Settling back onto his bed, Erik turned the volume on the T.V. back up. Unfortunately, _Jersey Shore_ was a lot less amusing without Charles there to make fun of it with him. 

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When he woke up the next day, Erik found he had three messages from Charles.  

At 9:37: _Raven spent the entire afternoon yesterday chastising me for not bringing you here. She also decided to wake me up at 8 by pulling me out of the bed. I am so very sorry for ever doing that to you._

At 10:58: _This house is so boring. I think your crazy has rubbed off on me. I want to break something out of sheer boredom._

At 12:23: _Mom's making martinis. Which reminds me; don't drink an entire bottle of Wild Turkey while you're there alone. Remember what happened last time? I'm still washing the smell of vomit out of my shoes._

Erik chuckled at the messages before crawling out of bed and going to take a shower. 

When he got out, he had two more messages from Charles. 

At 1:45: _Mom decorated the lawn with flamingos. Lorna would be happy here._

At 1:59: _Oh my God, I am so bored_. 

Erik outright laughed at the last two, amused at how open Charles was through the text messages. It seemed he was less awkward when he had a few miles and telephone wires to separate them. 

Erik lasted all of another hour and four more text messages before caving and calling to ask Charles for directions. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erik decides to go to Charles's house for Winter Break. It's here that he gets a glimpse of Charles's home life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. I was having issues figuring out how to get everything to fit, and where to end it. I know it ends kind of abruptly, but when I tried to continue it, it didn’t feel right. So. I think the next couple of chapters will be dedicated to Erik’s stay at the Xavier house. Anyhow. Enjoy.
> 
> Oh, and possible trigger warning for mentions of alcoholism and mild verbal abuse.

Objectively, Erik knew Charles had money. Everything he owned was new or in excellent condition, and he’d once mentioned something about family and being well off, but Erik had never really thought about it. 

It wasn’t until he pulled up in front of the Xavier mansion that it really hit him just how much money his roommate had. 

The Xavier house wasn’t just a house; it was a literal mansion, complete with what looked to be a ten car garage and windows covering the sides of the house, indicating room after room to stay in. 

Still in awe, Erik parked his truck along the curb leading up to the driveway, and climbed out, backpack of clothing thrown over his shoulder. 

“Erik!” 

The shout startled him out of his thoughts, making his head snap towards the front door, where a broadly grinning Charles was standing, waving enthusiastically at him, dressed in a faded blue cardigan and jeans.

“Erik! I’m glad you managed to find this place. My directions weren’t too horrible, were they?” 

“No, they were fine. Dude, you didn’t tell me you lived in a fucking mansion.” 

Charles flushed bright red.

“It’s not that important. Now come on. Mom’s been dying to meet you.”

Erik nodded, still shocked at the enormity of the house in front of him. 

“Dude. A mansion.”

“Really, Erik, it’s not a big deal…”

“Says you.” 

“Look, I don’t make a big deal out of it because I don’t care. It’s not important. Can you please not focus on it?”

“Maybe. But seriously, dude. You could have said something. I thought I’d pulled up to a fucking museum or something.”

“Well, I’m sorry about that, but I didn’t want to give you any reason to freak out or anything.”

“I was going to freak out either way, Charles. You live in a mansion.”

“Yes, but it’s not-Oh. Hello, Mother!” Charles’s entire demeanor changed as soon as he caught sight of the blonde woman in front of them. Erik was surprised to see Charles’s shoulders tense, and his smile fade in brightness. 

“Hello, Charles.” Erik felt his eyebrows beginning to raise as she spoke. Her words were slurred, and her gaze was slightly unfocused as she glanced at her son, before catching sight of Erik. 

“Who’s your friend?”

“This is Erik, Mother. My roommate from school.” 

“Oh. Hello. I’m Sharon.” She looked him up and down as she stuck her hand out, and Erik shook it, offering her a tight smile. 

“Please to meet you, ma’am.” 

“You’ve got quite the grip there, Erik.”

“Er.”

“And lovely eyes. Charles, why did you never mention how attractive your roommate is?”

“I think Kurt was looking for you, Mother.”

“Was he?” Sharon sniffed, her expression turning from blank to slightly dour. “He’ll probably have something else to moan about, the wanker.” Without so much as a good-bye, she left them, striding off towards the other side of the mansion, leaving behind a surprised Erik and a cringing Charles. 

“I…am so sorry about that, Erik,” Charles said after a sizable pause. 

“It’s cool,” Erik replied.

“No, it’s not. She…well. I’ll explain later, but let’s go set your stuff down.” Charles eyed the backpack slung over Erik’s shoulder warily. 

“Is that truly all you brought for a two week vacation?”

“Yes.”

Charles frowned, as if the few clothes Erik had stuffed into the bag wouldn’t be enough to last him the two weeks. 

“I’ll be fine. If I need anything else, I can just go back to the dorm and get it. It’s not that far of a drive.”

“No, no, you don’t need to waste gas like that. You can borrow some of mine, or we can go pick some things up in town-“

“Charles, don’t worry about it.”

“But truly, if you-“

“Charles.”

Charles stopped talking at that, his face flushing again as he began to climb up the second flight of steps they’d encountered since beginning the journey to Erik’s room. 

“Fine. You’re going to have the room next to mine. Raven’s is down the hall, but she likes to come bother me when I’m home. I wouldn’t be surprised if she came to bother you as well. Seems like she took a liking to you last time you two talked.”

“That’s a surprise. I was complete dick to her last time.”

“Yes, well, it seems she found that endearing.” A sour look crossed Charles’s face at the thought of his sister finding such a personality trait endearing, but it was quickly gone once they reached the room that was to be Erik’s. 

“Here you are.” Charles pushed the door open, and Erik followed after him, pausing to take in the room. 

It was easily twice the size of their dorm, and looked to be a thousand times more comfortable. The bed was neatly made, and the walls were painted a faint beige color that gave it a calming quality. 

“You can use anything in here. My house is your house.” Charles smiled warmly at him, folding his hands behind his back, as if resisting the urge to reach out and touch Erik. 

That observation alone unnerved him; Charles never resisted the urge to pat him on the shoulder, or squeeze his arm, or indulge in some form of affection when it was just them. And yet here he was, the lines of his body tense as he held himself stiffly, face open and relaxed, but body screaming of fear and unease. 

Erik was beginning to regret coming here for the holidays already, if this is what it turned Charles into. 

“Thanks. Um…bathroom?”

“Oh!” Charles flushed again, as if embarrassed to have forgotten such a basic part of introduction. 

“Down the hall and to your left. Three doors down. Although you’ll be sharing it with Raven and myself while you’re here.” 

“‘S fine.” And with that, Erik was quickly slipping off to the bathroom, placing a hand on Charles’s shoulder in passing, and frowning when Charles seemed to tense even further. 

Once he’d taken care of business in the bathroom, Erik lingered a few moments to send a text to Scott. 

 _Dude, my roommate lives in a fucking MANSION. Was not expecting that. Also, I think his mom hit on me._

The reply is quick, because Scott is never far from his phone, and is especially attached to it during visits home, looking for any means to escape; his home life wasn’t any more pleasant than Erik’s was, not by a long shot. At least he had Logan to keep him company during the holidays. 

 _Seriously? That’s awesome. The mansion, not her hitting on you. Although that’s hilarious. Is she hot?_

Erik rolled his eyes; the last line sounded more like Alex than it did Scott. 

 _Kinda. Drunk as hell, though. This is…going to be weird._

Snapping the phone shut, Erik slipped it into his pocket again and slid out of the bathroom, raising an eyebrow when he caught sight of Charles and Raven standing outside of the room he was to be using, seemingly arguing. 

“Erik!” Raven greeted him cheerfully, a smile lighting up her face. Erik felt his eyebrow shoot up even further; he hadn’t been even remotely close to kind to the younger girl when she’d last visited, and here she was, greeting him like they were old friends. 

Erik was beginning to think he’d never understand the Xaviers. 

“I am so glad you’re here. This place blows during the holidays without some source of entertainment. Charles is great and all, but he never wants to do anything fun.”

“Pardon me for not wanting to get arrested. Or contribute to the delinquency of my seventeen-year old sister.”

“Oh, whatever. You hypocrite, I know you started drinking when you were my age, and-“

“And you’re stopping right there.” Charles glared at his sister, and Erik couldn’t help but smile at the two. 

“Asshole,” Raven muttered under her breath, crossing her arms and glaring at her sibling. 

“Anyhow. Erik, do you need anything? Are you hungry? Or do you want a tour?” Charles asked, gesturing towards the hallway at the end of his question. 

“A tour would be nice, I suppose.” 

“Right, then come with me. And Raven, if she promises to be quiet.”

“I make no such promise.” 

Charles sighed, but didn’t protest when Raven followed after them, occasionally talking over Charles as he pointed out each room to Erik. It seemed Raven had a story to go with every room, some quick anecdote about each space, most involving Charles and something amusing or embarrassing he did in the room. Erik found himself growing fond of the teenager the more she talked; she was witty, and quick with comebacks to Erik’s occasional sarcastic remark on Charles’s childhood antics.

“And in here is my father’s laboratory, but it’s been closed off since the accident-“

“Not necessarily.” 

“Just because I tried to break in when I was nine doesn’t mean it’s not off-limits, Raven.” 

“Hey, you almost succeeded with that one, didn’t you?”

“Yes, but I shudder to remember the reason why I didn’t get through.” 

“Why…? Oh.” Raven’s grin faded, and a dark look passed across her face before she managed to smile again. 

“Erik, has Charles told you about the time he let me cut his hair?”

“No, he hasn’t.” 

Raven’s grin widened, and she launched into yet another story, this one involving The Beatles, a soup bowl from the kitchen, and a pair of scissors. 

Erik hardly paid attention to the story, more focused on the way Charles’s shoulders had tensed at the mention of why he was unable to break into his father’s laboratory, and the fact that they were still tense, even though his roommate was laughing at the memory of the bowl cut his sister gave him when they were twelve and ten. What could have caused Charles, who was normally so relaxed and open in their dorm, to tense like that? 

Erik’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a bell ringing throughout the house. He felt his eyebrow raise at the noise, turning to look at Raven and Charles. 

“What does that mean?”

“Dinner’s ready.” 

“Seriously?”

“How else do you expect to find someone in a seventy two room mansion and tell them dinner’s ready? Telepathy?” Raven asked, rolling her eyes and pushing past Erik to lead the way towards the stairwell. Erik scowled at her back, but followed after her nonetheless, Charles close by. 

“Erik.” He stopped when he felt Charles’s hand on his elbow, pulling him backwards. 

“Erik, I just want to apologize beforehand for anything that might happen at dinner. Mother is…well. And Kurt’s…ah.” Charles struggled to find the words to describe his mother and stepfather. 

“Charles, it’s all right. I think I can handle an awkward family dinner or two.”

“Yes. Well. Just a warning.” 

“All right.” 

Charles released Erik’s elbow, a worried expression on his face as he resumed the walk down the stairs. His posture had gone rigid again, and Erik was starting to actually wonder about Charles’s family life. What could possibly make him dread going to dinner so much? Surely Charles’s family wasn’t worse than his own.

When they got downstairs, the table was set for five, but a sixth chair remained next to Raven, who was sitting across from them. Erik eyed it curiously, but didn’t ask any questions, instead taking the seat beside Charles. Charles’s mother was already sitting at the head, and a man Erik assumed was Charles’s stepfather was seated at the opposite end. He was steadfastly ignoring Charles, it appeared. 

“Who’re you?” he asked, his gaze settling on Erik, brows furrowing for a moment. 

“Erik Lensherr,” Erik replied, debating on standing up and shaking the other man’s hand. 

“Who?”

“My roommate from college, Kurt,” Charles replied quickly, casting a sour glance the man’s way. 

“Ah.” 

Nobody spoke after that, and Erik’s few feeble attempts at conversation went mostly unnoticed, except by Sharon, who was eyeing Erik in a way that made him distinctly uncomfortable. The flush in her cheeks and the glazed quality of her eyes was one Erik knew well; she was shit-faced, plain and simple, and Erik was starting to understand why Charles had wanted him to come home. 

“Cain’s coming home tomorrow,” Kurt announced suddenly.

“Oh really?” Raven asked, shooting Charles a sharp look. Erik glanced over to find Charles’s face had paled and he was staring steadfastly at his plate.

“Mhm. Should be home around dinnertime.”

“Cool.” 

“Will he be bringing that girlfriend of his along?” Sharon slurred.

“No. Just himself this time.” 

“Shame. She was lovely.”

“Sharon, you’re drunk.”

“And you’re a dick.” 

“I’m done,” Charles said abruptly, putting down his fork and pushing his chair away from the table. 

“Erik, care to join me upstairs?” 

“Uh, sure.”

“I’m coming too.” 

Erik glanced over in time to catch Kurt’s sneer, aimed at Charles. 

“Pansy,” he snarled. Charles’s lips flattened out into a thin line, and Erik caught his hands balling into fists. Erik even felt his own blood beginning to boil a little, furious that Kurt would speak to his own stepson so harshly. Even his parents, as absent and oblivious as they were, would never dream of insulting Erik in such a way. 

Raven placed her hand on Charles’s shoulder, and Charles shrugged it off before heading for the stairs again. Erik and Raven followed Charles up the stairs and into the large den down the hall from their bedrooms. 

“Charles, I’m sorry he’s like that, I don’t know why-“

“Don’t worry about it, Raven. Not your fault Kurt’s a dick.”

Raven pursed her lips, half-glaring at her stepbrother. 

“Er…who’s Cain?”

“My brother,” Raven replied. “Older by three years.” 

“Also a dick.” 

“I’m going to bed.” Erik felt his eyebrows raise at the anger in Raven’s voice, watching her storm off. 

An awkward silence settled between the two, Charles slumped down on the couch, arms crossed and glaring at the wall opposite him, and Erik sprawled in the arm chair across from him, debating on asking or waiting for Charles to say something. Finally, Charles broke the silence. 

“Cain and Kurt both hate me. Ever since they first moved in when I was nine, and it became clear that I was more interested in academics than sports. Cain’s a bully, but Kurt doesn’t think so. And Raven still defends him, even though she knows what he’s done.” Charles took a shuddering breath, unfolding his arms. Erik glanced over to find his hands were shaking. 

“And Mom’s an alcoholic, if you hadn’t gathered as much from her being soused since you got here. I don’t think I’ve seen her sober in the past six years.” 

Charles glanced over at Erik, eyes set in a glare. 

“And I’m sorry I asked you to come here and have to experience that. You can go back to the dorm if you want. I won’t blame you. I’d come with you, but I hate leaving Raven here alone.” 

“No, no, I’ll…I’ll stay. I can handle a few dicks here and there.” 

Erik smiled when Charles laughed.

“That sounds…horribly wrong.” 

“Of course you’d be the one to think of that,” Erik replied. 

“Shut up.” 

Erik chuckled, and then they fell silent again, although it was a more relaxed one this time around. 

“But seriously, Charles,” Erik said suddenly. “I’ll stick around. I’m not going to leave you here with that. Especially not after the number of times you’ve taken care of my drunk ass. I figure I owe you this, at least.” 

Charles smiled warmly over at his roommate, and Erik was surprised to feel a jolt of something go through him, making his face heat up. 

“Thank you,” Charles replied softly, before turning back around and reaching for the remote on the back of the couch. They lapsed into another silence, which was quickly covered up by the sounds of the TV. Erik bit back a laugh when Charles landed on a channel showing reruns of  _Jersey Shore_ , and left it there. 

They stayed where they were until midnight, when Charles yawned and stood up, passing the remote to Erik and telling him he could watch whatever, but Charles was going to bed. Erik turned off the TV, not wanting to stick around in the den without Charles. Instead, he followed his roommate down the hall and to their rooms. Charles bid him good night with a quick pat on the shoulder, before slipping into his room. Erik went into his own, shutting the door behind him and flopping down on the bed and pulling out his phone. 

 _So how’s the roommate’s family? Mom still hitting on you?_

Erik snorted as he read Scott’s message. Of course he’d want to know that; it’d be perfect fodder for teasing him once they were all back at the dorms. 

 _Nah. Didn’t see her for the rest of the night. Family’s all right. Kind of weird._

The reply was almost instantaneous. 

 _Weird? How?_

Erik mulled over how to explain, not wanting to expose something Charles clearly kept a secret from the rest of the world to his friend. 

 _Weird as fuck, man. But it’s no big deal._

With that, he shut his phone and set it down before picking it back up and checking the date. 

“Motherfucker,” he groaned, staring at the glowing face of the phone. “It’s Hanukkah tomorrow.”

And it was. Erik wasn’t sure how he could have forgotten that. Maybe because his mother or grandmother always kept track and reminded him. Or maybe it was the shock of seeing that Charles’s family wasn’t as perfect as he’d imagined them to be. 

He wondered if Charles knew that tomorrow night was the first night of Hanukkah, or if he’d forgotten completely. Erik wasn’t sure he wanted to remind him. And yet, he didn’t want to go without lighting the menorah this year. 

He’d long since lost touch with the actual religious aspect of Judaism. He was by no means a believer, and hadn’t been to synagogue in years. And yet this was one aspect of the religion that he still hung on to. He’d feel all kinds of disoriented this year, not lighting the menorah with his mother or grandmother. But he’d find a way to cope. 

Sighing and putting his phone away, Erik slipped out of his clothes and into a pair of pajama pants and an old t-shirt before crawling back into bed and under the covers, and drifting off to sleep. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning proved to be calmer than yesterday. Sharon and Kurt were nowhere to be found, and Raven had decided to go for a run around the grounds. When Erik finally crawled out of bed at ten thirty, cursing the ungodly hour, he found Charles coming out of the bathroom, towel wrapped around his waist, wet hair brushed back. 

“Oh, Erik! You’re awake!” he chirped, grinning broadly at his roommate. Erik blinked a few times, unsure if he was seeing things correctly; was Charles, the same guy who blushed at the thought of changing pants in front of Erik, standing in the hallway in nothing but a towel without batting an eye? 

“Uh…yeah.”

“Did you sleep well? Are you hungry? Mother’s gone for the day, and I was going to fix pancakes after my shower. Would you like anything?”

Erik blinked again, taken aback by the surreal nature of the situation. 

“Yeah. Sure. I’m…bathroom.” 

Charles laughed, amused by Erik’s grunting and bleary-eyed expression. 

“I’ll have coffee brewed as well.”

Erik almost missed Charles’s laugh when he moaned loudly in gratitude. 

He quietly went through his usual getting ready routine, slowly waking up by degrees. Once he’d finished brushing his teeth, he went downstairs in search of this coffee Charles claimed to have been brewing.

“Feeling any better?” Charles asked, leaning against the counter. 

“Hrgh.” 

Charles laughed again, shaking his head and reaching for the mug beside him. 

“Here. Two sugars in it, just for you.” 

Erik took the mug, his sleep-muddled brain not quite processing the fact that Charles knew just how he liked his coffee, when they rarely had it together. The first sip was like Heaven, and he groaned a little when it hit his taste buds. 

“Oh God, that’s perfection.” 

“I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of your inability to handle mornings like a normal person,” Charles chuckled as he finished off his mug and set it in the sink. 

“Mornings are for the devil,” Erik growled, taking another, larger, sip of his coffee and sitting down at the kitchen table, where Charles had set out a plate of pancakes, as well as a bottle of syrup and a tub of butter. 

“Well, once you’ve finally awakened, what would you like to do today? Raven’s off with some of her girlfriends, and Mother’s bound to be gone for the day.” The smile on Charles’s face faltered some before he spoke again. “Kurt and Cain are coming in later in the afternoon. I…didn’t know if you’d want to be around for that.” 

Erik glanced up at the comment, studying his roommate’s face. 

“We could go into town. You could show me around the place. Or…I dunno. Too early for decisions.”

Charles chuckled again. 

“Well all right. We can go into town. I’d rather avoid Cain at all possible costs. And we could pick up some movies or something for entertainment. Whatever.” 

“Yeah.” 

They lapsed into silence again, Erik making quick work of the pancakes, and Charles fiddling with his phone. 

“‘M gonna shower,” Erik grunted when he was done, standing up and grabbing his plate and mug and making his way towards the sink. 

“Here, give me those. I’ll take care of them.” Erik raised an eyebrow, ready to protest, but changing his mind, as it was far too early to muster enough energy for a proper comeback. He silently handed his dishes over and made his way back upstairs, and to the shower. 

Afterwards, he finally felt like a functioning human. 


End file.
